AN: Sorry for the lack of update yesterday. As much as my cavalier attitude may suggest otherwise, I actually care a great deal about uni – I'm what you cool kids would call a nerd. Once again, thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read and review this story, I sincerely hope you enjoy this instalment.

Chapter Seventeen

He was so ready to give his statement.

On that note, he felt fine, why did he ever have to hang round in the hospital any longer? He wanted to get back to the precinct, to Beckett. He was also somewhat interested in seeing the case closed. He was about as personally invested as he could be in getting this one wrapped up. No surprise there.

"Alexis, could you do your Dad a favour?" he smiled in earnest, taking her hand in his.

"Anything," she automatically responded and then regretted it as she noticed the troublemaking twinkle in her father's eyes. "Let me rephrase – anything, within reason," she drew out, emphasising the addition to her statement. Castle's grin widened.

"Clever girl. I was going to ask you to smuggle me from the hospital in a body bag. But, after you added that clause I've decided all I need you to do is find the head nurse, smile at her with your best puppy dog eyes and tell her you want to take your Dad home. No one can refuse your cuteness and I'll be free to bust outta' this joint," he said, adding a fake drawl to the end. Dramatic genes apparently all the more intact when he wasn't petrified.

"Fine," Alexis sighed with a mock eye roll. "But you'll owe me, buster!"

"I'll be forever in your debt, me-lady," he said, sincerity ringing in his every word. Alexis laughed.

"Aren't you already? I'm sure you've offered that to me before. Empty promises," she muttered with a grin she rose and made her way from the room. At the door, she turned around slowly, her expression blank. "Once I bust you out, you're not really going home are you?" she said with a sigh. "You'll be going to the precinct," she said more to herself than to him. Castle thought he detected a sting of bitterness in her tone. Before he had the chance to process it, she had slipped from the room, leaving him sure he had imagined it. Alexis knew that this case, of all cases, was one he had to be at the precinct to help Beckett close. It wasn't like he was avoiding home, they needed him for this case. Besides, it meant extra time with Beckett which was a perk he was completely unwilling to relinquish.

X-X-X-X-X-X

Beckett left the hospital hesitantly, each step she took her heart tugged her in the opposite direction, back to Castle's bedside. She ran her fingers through her hair in frustration; clinginess was not in her nature. But under the circumstances, the weight of things still unsaid, she wanted to remain beside him searching his eyes for his unwavering devotion and finding the courage to declare her own affections. She wasn't fickle, but she worried the time apart from him would drag her back into denial, have her cement over the cracks in her wall, without giving him a chance to get his footing and join her on her side. She tried not to dwell on it – that sense of need to be with him would still be there when she got back from the precinct. He had gradually wormed his way into her heart and now he was trapped, there was no way to extract him; they were too intrinsically linked by time and experience. He was hers and she was his, though the declarations remained largely unspoken, they belonged to one another, there was no denying that now. She was after all a one-and-done kind of girl.

Beckett had barely made it to the precinct when her phone rang.

"Beckett!" She could practically feel him grinning down the phone. Her heart soared. She chided herself, it was just a phone call, she'd barely left him ten minutes ago for crying out loud. Still, she couldn't help herself; she was well and truly in over her head.

"Hey Castle," she answered affection seeping through her tone.

"Hi," he softened. She paused waiting for him to continue, after a few more seconds of silence in which she pictured him gazing off into the distance with a dopey grin, she interjected, a –

"So…"

"Oh right," he snapped out of it. "So, Alexis befriended Marissa, she's the head nurse on my floor. She's letting me checkout early," he announced gleefully. "I'll meet you at the station soon, just got to do the paperwork."

"Paperwork," she snickered. "That I'd like to see." He laughed in earnest. "Castle, shouldn't you go home and rest? You don't have to come in today," she begrudgingly told him, truth was, she wanted him there.

"You're kidding me, right. You guys need my statement, what better place to do that than the precinct. Duh," he beamed. Something about the idea of seeing Beckett again had put him in a stellar mood – not that he wasn't already happy just to be free of the madwoman's advances. Plus, he was really looking forward to Beckett's interrogation of the madwoman – and of him, for entirely different reasons – jealous Beckett was one of his favourites. She mentally slapped herself, she'd already forgotten that they still needed Castle's statement today.

"Sounds good, Castle. I'll see you soon," she said with a soft smile playing on her lips.

Seeing her end the call, Ryan and Esposito approached her desk. Despite looking sleep deprived and just generally worn out, they were sporting matching grins.

"It makes for a much more pleasant working environment when Mum and Dad are getting on," Esposito said his under breath, but deliberately loud enough for Beckett to hear, with a wink at Ryan.

"Bro, it's never fun when you get us in trouble," Ryan whispered animatedly in mock horror. He grinned broadly at his partner.

"That's enough children," Beckett smirked. "Seriously, with you two and Castle I sometimes feel like I'm a nanny, not a cop…What did you get from the Lonkings?"

"The woman is a serious nut job. We haven't much more from her then wailings about being Mrs Castle. She keeps asking if he's okay," Esposito spat out. "It's like she doesn't get that the only reason he's in hospital is because of her in the first place." Joking aside, Castle was part of their team and Esposito clearly detested that this woman had put him in harm's way. She had no ounce of his sympathy, whether she was sane or otherwise.

"Yeah," Ryan agreed. "And Bryan, he's a real piece of work. Despite his glowing history of domestic violence, he's insisting that Tessa is the sole perpetrator, right down to the head wound. Said he saved Castle by wrestling the gun from Tessa right before we showed up…"

"I don't buy it," Esposito added. "Tessa doesn't seem to have any malice towards Castle, I think she'd lick him to death before she hit him." Beckett visibly shuddered at the thought.

"Sorry," Esposito shrugged. "I'm looking forward to you having a run at her Beckett. I have a feeling it'll make for an interesting conversation." Beckett was kind of tempted to glare at him for that, but he did have a point, she was intrigued to see how that particular interrogation would turn out herself. She wondered about the ethics of having Castle in the room with her. She chastised herself at the thought, she wanted him there for purely selfish reasons – just to show the madwoman how much he was hers – not for the pretence of solving the case.

"First things first, I'm going to need coffee," she sighed. She started off in the direction of the break room when Esposito caught her arm.

"Ah Beckett, I don't think that's going to be necessary," he nodded in the direction of the elevator. Castle was striding off, looking a little worse for wear but sporting an enthusiastic grin, two steaming cups of coffee in his hand.

"Oh," slipped from her mouth before she had the chance to register it.

"Good morning Beckett," fell from his lips as he resisted the urge to pull her into a crushing hug, instead settling with planting a coffee in her hands. He let his fingers linger on hers for a moment longer than usual and he released the cup. She bit back a blush, wanting so badly to link her fingers with his once again, surprised by the overwhelming need for contact, to be touching him somewhere, anywhere. Beside her Esposito cleared his throat. "Right, morning Espo, Ryan," Castle added with a nod.

"Good morning soul mate," Esposito sniggered.

"It's such a shame Beckett had to use your shirt to slow your blood loss…" Ryan threw in, Esposito finishing for him –

"Thankfully, we managed to salvage it. It's down in forensics just waiting for someone to take a photo of it and post it to your fan site," Esposito winked.

"I'd be happy to get on that, Boss?" Ryan added in mock innocence. Beckett opened her mouth to respond but Castle cut in –

"Very funny boys," he said, sarcasm evident in his tone. "Hey Beckett, I think Ryan and Esposito are jealous," he added with a mask of solemnity. Esposito cocked his eyebrow.

"Really bro?"

"Oh yeah. You're jealous that I'm ruggedly handsome enough to get snatched off the street by a woman. Bet that's never happened to either of you?" He smirked.

"Castle, I'm thinking that's a curse not a blessing," Ryan shot back with a grin.

"Definitely a curse," Esposito muttered. Beckett shooed them away and turned to Castle. His façade dropped a little and she could see the tiredness lining his face.

"Definitely a curse," he echoed softly, running his fingers through his hair. Beckett gazed at him for a moment longer.

"C'mon, let's get this case closed so we can get you home to bed," she smiled gently. She knew he was exhausted when he didn't leer at her over the bed connotation. She wasn't exactly aiming for subtly. She wasn't planning on going anywhere other than the loft tonight. His guestroom was about the furthest she was willing to venture away from him for the time being – the memory of not knowing where he was or if he was okay still too raw. He nodded at her words and reached for her hand, squeezing it quickly once before moving to let go. She caught his fingers as they slipped from hers and gave an answering squeeze. "I've got to go interrogate Tessa," she said with a sigh as she dropped his fingers.

"Can I come?" he automatically replied. "Wait, I'm not sure I want to come. She kind of creeps me out now that I think about it," he shuddered momentarily at the thought. "Yep, I'm sure. I'll pass."

"Viewing room," Beckett agreed softly. She was met with a nod from Castle.

Beckett made her way to the interrogation room, she paused and mentally steadied herself before she turned the handle. Tessa visibly stiffened at her entrance.

"You're the Nikki Heat cop," she spat out. "I don't want to talk to you. You ruined everything," she glared at Beckett. Beckett took in the appearance of the woman before her, Tessa's face was raw and tear-streaked, her words a stark contrast to the vulnerability in her eyes. The hostility to her words made Beckett unsure as to if she would be best to conduct the interview with a soft or hard hand. She paused for a moment, taking stock, before she plunged in.